Ch - 4 POLITICAL

PARTIES
 POLITICAL PARTY
A Political Party is a group of
people who come together to
contest elections and hold
power in the government.
 WHY DO WE NEED POLITICAL
PARTIES?
Parties agree on some policies and
programmes for the society with a view to
promote the collective good.
Parties reflect fundamental political divisions in a
society.
Thus, a party is known by which part it stands
for, which policies it supports and whose
interests it upholds.
NAVYA RAI
A POLITICAL PARTY HAS
THREE COMPONENTS

The Leaders

The active members

The followers
FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL
PARTIES
Parties Parties put Parties play a
contest forward different decisive role in
elections. policies making laws.

Parties form and Parties play the Parties shape

run governments. role of opposition public opinion.

Parties provide people

access to government
machinery.
 THE NECESSITY OF POLITICAL
PARTIES
Political parties help in
● They work as a mechanism to representing different
support or restrain the government,
make policies, justify or oppose them.
views on various
issues to the
government.
● Political parties fulfill the
needs that every They bring various
representative government has. representatives together so
that a responsible
government could be
formed.
HOW MANY PARTIES SHOULD WE
HAVE?
● In a democracy, any group of citizens is
free to form a political party.
● More than 750 parties are registered with
the Election Commission of India.
● But not all these parties are serious
contenders in the elections.
● So the question, then is: how many major or
effective parties are good for
● democracy?
 DIFFERENT PARTY SYSTEMS

One Two- Multi-

Party Party Party
Syste syste syste
m m m
 One Party System
In some countries, only one party
is allowed to control and run the
government.
These are called one-party systems.
This system is not considered as a
good option for democracy.
Eg; China, Communist Party
 Two Party System
In some countries, power usually
changes between the two main parties.
Such a party system is called a two-
party system.

Eg: The United States of America and

the United Kingdom.
 Multi Party System
If several parties compete for power,
and more than two parties have a
reasonable chance of coming to
power either on their own strength or
in alliance with others, it is called
a multiparty system.
Eg: India.
 ALLIANCE
When several parties in a
multi-party system join
hands for the purpose of
contesting elections and
winning power, it is called
an alliance or a front.
 RECOGNIZED PARTIES
Every party in the country has to register with the
Election Commission.
While the Commission treats all parties equally,
It offers some special facilities to large and
established parties. These parties are given a
unique symbol – only the official candidates of
that party can use that election symbol.
Parties that get this privilege and some other
special facilities are ‘recognized’ by the Election
Commission for this purpose.
That is why these parties are called, ‘recognized
political parties’.
 Classification
of Parties

National State Party

Party
 CRITERION GIVEN BY EC
State Party: National Party:
● A party that secures at ● A party that secures at
least 6 per cent of the least six per cent of
total votes in an election total votes in Lok
to the Legislative Sabha elections or
Assembly of a State Assembly elections in
and wins at least two four States and wins at
seats is recognized as least four seats in the
a State party. Lok Sabha is
recognized as a
national party.

According to this classification, there were

seven national recognized parties in the
country in 2006.
National Political
Parties
NAVYA RAI
 Indian National Congress
(INC)
●This is popularly known as the Congress
Party.
●Oldest party - formed in 1885
●Involved in the freedom struggle
●Centrist in its ideology
●Espouses secularism
●Welfare of weaker sections and minorities
● Emerged as largest party in 2004 Lok Sabha
elections- completed two terms in office, i.e.
Nt e n years
A VY A RAI
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

● Founded in 1980 by reviving the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana

Sangh.
● Goal- to build strong and modern India Promotes
cultural nationalism (or ‘Hindutva)
● Wants full territorial and political integration of Jammu
and Kashmir with India.
● Demands uniform civil code .
● Party came to power in 1998 and remained in power
● till 2004 ( NDA )
● This party stormed back to power in centre in 2014.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
● Formed in 1984 under the leadership of Kanshi Ram.
● Seeks to represent and secure power for the bahujan
Samaj which includes the dalits, adivasis, OBCs and
religious minorities.
● Inspired by teachings of Mahatma Phule,Periyar
Ramaswami Naicker and B.R Ambedkar
● Has good presence in Uttar Pradesh and has been in power
in UP for a couple of terms.
 Communist Party of India -
Marxist (CPI-M)

This party was founded in 1964.

Main philosophy- Marxism-
It supports socialism, secularism.
Enjoys strong support in West Bengal,
Kerala and Tripura,
Famous among the poor, factory workers,
farmers, agricultural labourer and the
intelligentsia.
NAVYA RAI
 Communist Party of India
Formed in 1925. (CPI)
Same philosophy as CPI (M).( Marxist )
After the split in the party in 1964 it
led to the formation of the CPI (M).
Significant presence in the states of
Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra
Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Advocates the coming together of all
left parties to build a strong left front.
Nationalist Congress Party(NCP)
This party was formed in 1999 following a split in
the Congress party.
The party espouses democracy, Gandhian
secularism, equity, social justice and federalism.
Wants high office in government to be confined to
natural born citizens of the country
This is a major party in Maharashtra and has a
significant presence in Meghalaya, Manipur and
Assam.
ALL INDIA TRINAMOOL
CONGRESS (AITC)
● Launched on 1 January 1998 under the
leadership of Mamata Banerjee.
● Recognised as a national party in 2016.
● The party’s symbol is flowers and grass.
● Committed to secularism and federalism.
● Has been in power in West Bengal since 2011
and has a presence in Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur and Tripura.
● In the General Elections held in 2014, it got
3.84% votes and won 34 seats, making it the
fourth-largest party in the Lok Sabha.
 RISE OF REGIONAL PARTIES AND
THEIR CONTRIBUTION
1.Many regional parties have grown in prominence over
the last three decades.
2.Has made Indian parliament politically more diverse
3.Gives support to national parties to form government
4.Every state party has got a chance to enter into
national level alliance
5.Has strengthened federalism and democracy
6.This is a sign of expansion and deepening of democracy
in India.
7.Samajwadi
NAVYA RAI
Party, Biju Janata Dal, AIADMK, DMK, etc.
are examples of regional parties
 CHALLENGES TO POLITICAL PARTIES

Decline in the
Dynastic
ideological
Successio
Money difference
Lack of n
and among parties
Internal Muscle
Democracy Power
 Lack of Internal Democracy

1. The power is concentrated in the hands of one or a handful of

leaders.
2. Membership registers are not maintained.
3. Do not conduct internal elections regularly.
4. Ordinary members of the party do not get a chance to come
up.
5. The top leadership is often disconnected with the grassroots
workers.
6. Loyalty to the policies and principles of the party has less value than
the loyalty to the top leadership.
 Dynastic Succession

1. The top positions in many political parties

are usually controlled by members of one
family.
2. A person born in a particular family
becomes the leader by virtue of his birth;
3. Not the sign of a healthy democracy.
4. This tendency is present in most of the
political parties in India.
5. This is not the case in India alone, but in
many other countries as well.
Money and Muscle Power

1. A political party leaves no stone unturned to

win elections
2. Spends huge sum of money on
electioneering.
3. Nominates candidates who can raise money
4. Rich people who give funding often influence
the decisions and policies
5. Parties often take help of criminals and
gives them ticket. Being a Meaningful
Choice
 Decline in the ideological difference amongst different
parties

● Most of the political parties sound similar to one

another.
● People have no choice than choosing the better of the
two evils.
● In some states, the party in power just changes every
five year but people seldom experience change on the
ground.
 WAYS TO REFORM
POLITICAL PARTIES

Anti-defection
Law
Details of Property
and Criminal
Proceedings during
Nomination
Mandatory
Organizational
Elections and IT
Returns

Other
Suggestions
 Anti-defection Law
The law says that if any MLA or MP
changes parties, he or she will lose the
seat in the legislature.
This new law has helped bring
defection down.
It has made any dissent even more
difficult.
MPs and MLAs have to accept
whatever the party leaders decide.
Details of Property and Criminal
Proceedings during Nomination

● It is mandatory for every candidate who contests elections

to file an AFFIDAVIT giving details of his property and criminal
cases pending against him.
● The new system has made a lot of information
available to the public.
● But there is no system of check if the information given by the
candidates is true.
Mandatory Organizational
Elections and IT Returns

It necessary for political parties to

hold their organizational elections
and file their income tax returns.
The parties have started doing so
but sometimes it is mere formality.
 Suggestions for Future

A law should be made to regulate the internal

affairs of political parties.
It should be made mandatory for political parties to
give a minimum number of tickets, about one-
third, to women candidates.
There should be state funding of elections.
People can put pressure on political parties and
this can be done through petitions, publicity and
agitations.
Ordinary citizens, pressure groups and
movements & media can play an important role in
this.
Political parties can improve if those who want this
join politics